Extended Warranty Plans

I'm not usually a fan of extended warranty plans.  I don't buy them for my cars.  I don't buy them for my computers.

But, over the past years, there have been a few things I have bought the extended warranties for.

When oldest child was 6, he failed the eye exam at school and had to wear glasses.  When we bought the glasses, they offered me a one year warranty for an additional $24.  I took a long look at the kid, who gave me his best "Who Me?"  look back, and decided it might be a good idea.  Almost every six weeks for the next year, we were back in the store, getting frames replaced, lenses replaced, or earpieces replaced.  I still have no idea how he broke the damn things so much, but for the extra cost of $24, we were able to keep him in glasses for a year. 

Our old Honda Accord.  We had not bought the extended warranty on the thing, but we were out in Colorado.  (Far, far from here!) The car died, and we had it towed to the nearest Honda dealership.  We were expecting the worst.  Thousands of miles from home, with our only form of transportation in the shop, we thought we were going to owe thousands of dollars.  It turns out our car broke down 1,000 miles before the original warranty (5 years/ 50,000 miles) ran out.  All of the repairs were done by Honda.  We paid $36 for an oil change.

When we started buying cell phones for the children, we also bought the insurance with them.  Not sure why, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.  We've always used the AT&T company store, and the insurance we use is offered through them.

Oldest child's cell phone died earlier this summer, so we took it back to the AT&T store, and it was replaced by the insurance with the current version of the model most closely related to his phone.  That phone was 4 years old, and I am still in shock not only that the phone lasted that long, but also that the insurance replaced it.

This week, I had the biggest shock, ever.  I have an i-Phone.  When I bought it in December of 2011, I went ahead and bought Apple's Extended Warranty.  "There's money I'll never see again," I said to myself.   I promptly forgot that I had the warranty, and went on with my life.  This week, my phone died on me.  I headed back to the AT&T store where I bought my phone, expecting to have to fork over money for a new phone, an early termination fee, and to be locked into a new plan for two more years.

Imagine my surprise when the Customer Service Representative looked up my phone number and said "You have Apple's Extended Warranty.  This should be covered."  He then proceeded to make an appointment for me at the Genius Bar at the nearest Apple store, making certain that they had all of my information.

I showed up at the Apple store at the appointed time, spoke with an Apple Genius, and they went to work on my phone.  15 minutes later, I had a new phone in my hand.  For no charge.  My Genius set it up for me, and I was out the door.  I've never been happier in my life!  I didn't have to pay for a new phone, I didn't have to pay an early termination fee, and I didn't have to lock myself into two more years on my cell phone plan. 

I'll always wonder whether or not extended warranties and extra insurance are worth my money.  But, after yesterday, I know that with the hand-held electronics we have become so dependent upon, it is definitely worth the money.